Demographic features of the population of Macau include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
Macau's population is 95% Chinese ethnicity, primarily Cantonese and some Hakka, both from the nearby Guangdong Province. The majority of the remainder are of Portuguese or mixed Chinese-Portuguese ancestry. Some Japanese, including descendants of Japanese Catholics who were expelled by the shogunate, also live in Macau.
The official languages are Portuguese and Chinese. Most residents (85.7%) speak Cantonese; on the other hand, Mandarin is spoken by 3.2% at home, and about 40% are able to communicate in standard Mandarin. English and Portuguese are spoken as a first language by 1.5% and 0.6% respectively, while English is widely taught as a second language. The other popular topolect is Hokkien, spoken by a small percentage of the population. The creole Macanese language (Patuá or Macaista Chapado) is almost extinct.
Population size and structure 624,000 (2014 Qtr2 est.) Structure of the population Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2020): Age groupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 326 700 358 700 685 400 100 0–4 16 700 15 300 32 000 4.67 5–9 18 000 16 200 34 200 4.99 10–14 12 900 11 500 24 400 3.56 15–19 12 700 12 300 25 000 3.65 20–24 22 100 22 100 44 200 6.45 25–29 25 800 24 800 50 600 7.38 30–34 35 900 39 000 74 900 10.93 35–39 30 900 35 100 66 000 9.63 40–44 23 500 27 300 50 800 7.41 45–49 22 300 28 800 51 100 7.46 50–54 19 600 28 200 47 800 6.97 55–59 23 800 30 300 54 100 7.89 60–64 22 800 23 900 46 700 6.81 65–69 16 500 17 200 33 700 4.92 70–74 11 500 11 100 22 600 3.30 75–79 5 500 5 300 10 800 1.58 80–84 3 300 4 300 7 600 1.11 85+ 2 900 6 000 8 900 1.30Age group MaleFemaleTotalPercent 0–14 47 600 43 000 90 600 13.22 15–64 239 400 271 800 511 200 74.58 65+ 39 700 43 900 83 600 12.20
Vital statistics The following are data on vital statistics.
Average population Live birthsDeathsNatural changeCrude birth rate (per 1000)Crude death rate (per 1000)Natural change (per 1000)Crude migration rate (per 1000)TFR 1970 248,6002,6761,5161,16011.65.56.02.167 1971 246,2002,6371,5431,09410.95.55.4 -14.191.979 1972 243,9002,7501,5391,21110.35.44.9 -14.391.818 1973 241,7002,6861,4101,27610.05.44.6 -14.371.679 1974 239,4002,7811,5791,2029.75.44.3 -14.621.562 1975 237,0002,5831,3981,1859.75.44.3 -15.181.478 1976 234,2002,3691,51785210.25.44.7 -15.581.437 1977 231,7002,5321,4241,10811.05.55.6 -15.911.445 1978 233,1002,4071,3601,04712.45.56.9 1.511.499 1979 237,3003,0191,5041,51514.15.68.5 11.341.591 1980 242,0003,7841,5552,22916.05.610.4 10.211.709 1981 247,6004,2071,4652,74218.05.612.4 11.551.835 1982 261,7005,2621,4883,77419.85.614.2 39.331.953 1983 276,9006,1681,5144,65421.35.615.8 38.712.046 1984 288,8006,6661,4885,17822.45.516.923.242.104 1985 290,6007,5601,4666,09422.95.317.60.622.121 1986 301,5007,4771,3246,15322.95.217.7 15.752.094 1987 312,2007,5651,3216,24422.45.017.3 14.612.031 1988 319,8007,9131,4376,47621.54.916.6 3.511.944 1989 330,4007,5681,5166,05220.34.715.6 13.771.838 1990 339,5006,8721,4825,39019.04.514.5 10.911.722 1991 363,8006,8321,3355,49717.64.413.2 51.691.605 1992 378,0006,6761,4325,24416.24.312.0 23.691.494 1993 390,0006,2671,5314,73614.94.210.8 18.631.394 1994 403,6006,1151,3304,78513.84.19.7 21.821.308 1995 415,0005,8761,3514,52512.84.08.8 16.571.236 1996 415,2005,4681,4134,05512.04.08.0 -9.281.174 1997 419,4005,0311,2933,73811.13.97.2 1.101.116 1998 425,2004,4341,3563,07810.33.96.4 6.401.059 1999 429,6004,1481,3742,7749.63.95.7 3.791.002 2000 431,5003,8491,3382,5118.83.95.0 -1.410.95 2001 436,3003,2411,3271,9148.23.84.4 6.620.818 2002 440,5003,1621,4151,7477.73.83.9 5.570.813 2003 446,7003,2121,4741,7387.53.83.7 9.990.837 2004 462,6003,3081,5331,7757.43.83.6 30.510.855 2005 484,3003,6711,6152,0567.53.83.7 40.590.912 2006 509,9004,0581,5662,4927.83.84.0 45.320.954 2007 531,8004,5371,5452,9928.23.74.5 35.571.008 2008 543,1004,7171,7562,9618.73.75.0 15.360.979 2009 533,3004,7641,6443,1209.33.75.6 -24.821.004 2010 540,6005,1141,7743,3409.93.76.2 7.321.070 2011 557,4005,8521,8454,00710.43.76.8 23.011.150 2012 582,0007,3151,8415,47410.93.77.3 32.861.357 2013 607,5006,5711,9204,65111.43.77.7 34.321.150 2014 636,2007,3601,9395,42111.73.78.0 36.611.224 2015 646,8007,0552,0025,05312.03.88.2 8.571.142 2016 644,9007,1462,2384,90812.13.88.3 -10.551.138 2017 653,1006,5292,1204,40910.03.26.8 5.821.021 2018 667,4005,9252,0693,8569.03.15.9 15.640.915 2019 679,6005,9792,2823,6978.93.45.5 12.500.899 2020 683,1005,5452,2303,3158.13.34.8 0.270.841 2021 683,2005,0262,3202,7067.43.44.0 -3.810.756 2022 672,8004,3443,0041,3406.54.52.0 -17.750.680 2023683,7003,7122,9817315.54.41.114.890.586 2024688,3003,6072,4771,1305.2 3.61.65.040.582 2025688,9002,8702,424446 4.2 3.50.60.220.467
Current vital statistics + Period Live births Deaths Natural increase January – June 2025 1,421 1,247 +174 January – June 2026 1,340 1,329 +11 Difference -81 (-5.7%) +82 (+6.57%) -163Source:
Fertility rate Years 1920192119221923192419251926192719281929Total Fertility Rate in Macao5.515.515.515.515.515.515.445.375.35.23 Years 1930193119321933193419351936193719381939Total Fertility Rate in Macao5.165.095.024.954.884.814.744.674.64.53 Years 19401941194219431944194519461947194819491950Total Fertility Rate in Macao4.464.394.324.254.184.114.043.973.93.834.05
Life expectancy at birth Macau is the territory with the world's second highest life expectancy behind Hong Kong.
PeriodLife expectancy in YearsPeriodLife expectancy in Years1950–195561.01985–199076.61955–196063.61990–199578.11960–196566.01995–200079.81965–197068.12000–200581.01970–197570.72005–201082.11975–198073.12010–201583.31980–198574.8 Source: UN World Population Prospects
Ethnic groups The following are information on ethnicity and nationalities of residents based on data from the Statistics and Census Service. + Population of Macau according to ethnic group 1991–2021 Ethnicgroup 1991 census 2001 census 2011 census 2021 census Number % Number % Number %Number%Chinese 338,19195.1 416,353 95.7510,38392.4609,86389.4 Chinese & Portuguese 4,477 1.3 4,254 1.04,0190.76,6681.0 Portuguese 4,221 1.2 2,810 0.63,4850.65,1620.8 Chinese & non-Portuguese 1,771 0.41,6010.31,4980.2 Others 7,804 2.2 10,047 2.3 33,0156.057,6888.5 Portuguese & others 709 0.2 6020.11,1910.2 Total 355,693 435,235 552,503682,070
Place of birth +Population of Macau according to place of birth 1981-2021 Place of birth1981 census 1991 census 2001 census 2011 census 2021 censusNumber% Number % Number % Number %Number%Macau 96,11739.8 142,697 40.1 191,139 43.9 226,12740.9281,38141.3 Mainland China118,17748.9 179,028 50.3 206,384 47.4 255,18646.2298,88743.8 Hong Kong13,1185.4 12,192 3.4 14,436 3.3 19,3553.522,1993.3 Portugal 1,0370.4 3,625 1.0 1,616 0.4 1,8350.32,2130.3Philippines1,9650.65,3111.214,5442.632,9004.8Others13,2805.516,1864.616,3493.835,4566.444,4906.5 Total 241,729 355,693 435,235 552,503682,070Immigration is an essential component of the population. Results of the 2011 Population Census indicated that 326,376 (59.1% of the total population) were born outside Macau, an increase of 3.0 percentage points over the last ten years. Analysed by place of birth, 255,186 (46.2%) were born in Mainland China, down by 1.2 percentage points from 2001. 226,127 (40.9%) were born in Macau, 19,355 (3.5%) in Hong Kong and 1,835 (0.3%) in Portugal. There were more persons born in other countries or territories as the number of non-resident workers increased. Among them, 14,544 were born in the Philippines, 7,199 in Vietnam and 6,269 in Indonesia, altogether taking up 5.1% of the total population. 1,942 were born in Europe other than Portugal, 2,252 in Americas, 959 in Africa and 672 in Oceania. Analysed by age group, 85.2% of the youth population (aged 0–14) were born in Macau, and 62.9% of those aged 35 and above were born in Mainland China.
, 35,578 people in Macau were originally from Fujian province in Mainland China, making up about 25% of the Mainland China-born people. The number of Fujianese in Macau increased after the 1999 handover. ()
Nationality
Analysed by nationality, 509,788 (92.3% of the total population) were of Chinese nationality, down by 2.9 percentage points from the 2001 Census; meanwhile, only 0.9% was of Portuguese nationality, a decrease of 1.1 percentage points. These figures can be misleading, because more than a 100,000 people in Macau are holders of a Portuguese passport, making them in effect Portuguese citizens. Over the last ten years, diversity of the various components of the population is enhanced as economic development has drawn people to invest, work or study in Macau; consequently, 37,695 (6.8%) were of other nationalities, up by 4.0 percentage points, with 2.7% being Filipinos. Macau is a Chinese community and those of Chinese ethnicity totaled 510,383, an increase of 94,030 over the past ten years; however, its proportion to the total population decreased by 3.3 percentage points to 92.4%. Those of wholly or partly Portuguese ethnicity totaled 8,106, up slightly by 333 compared with 2001; its proportion to the total decreased by 0.3 percentage point to 1.5%.
Religion
Of the population, 30% practices Chinese folk religion, 10% Buddhism or Taoism, 5% Christianity, 50% no religion, 10% others (2009). Another survey conducted between 2005, 2007 and 2009 has found that 30% of the population follows folk faiths, 10% are adherents of Buddhism or Taoism, 5% are Christians, and the remaining part do not declare religious adherence.Zheng, VWT; Wan, PS. Religious beliefs and life experiences of Macao's residents 澳門居民的宗教信仰與生活經驗. On: Modern China Studies by Center for Modern China, 2010, v. 17 n. 4, p. 91-126. . «Drawing on empirical data obtained from three consecutive territory-wide household surveys conducted in 2005, 2007, and 2009 respectively, this paper attempts to shed light on the current religious profile of Macao residents.»
Languages
Portuguese and Chinese are official languages. The Chinese standard (Cantonese or Mandarin) is not specified in the law.
+ Population of Macau aged 3 and above according to usual language spoken at home Language 1991 census 2001 census 2011 census 2021 census Number % Number % Number %Number%Cantonese 289,297 85.8 372,697 87.9 449,27483.3537,98181.0 Portuguese 6,132 1.8 2,813 0.7 4,0220.73,9490.6 Mandarin 4,016 1.2 6,660 1.6 27,1295.031,4054.7 English 1,777 0.5 2,792 0.7 12,1552.323,6353.6Other Chinese Dialects32,2179.632,1257.630,5905.736,0325.4Tagalog3,4500.89,4151.719,1542.9Others3,8381.13,6660.96,5461.211,6261.8 Total 337,277 424,203 539,131663,782
+ Population of Macau aged 3 and above according to language spoken Language2001 census 2011 census 2021 census % Number %Number%Cantonese 94.4 485,06190.0572,40286.2 Portuguese 3.0 13,1482.415,1372.3 Mandarin 26.7 223,18041.4298,80745.0 English 13.5 113,80321.1150,35922.7Other Chinese Dialects17.784,66915.795,86414.4Tagalog13,8212.620,8793.1Others4.325,1614.725,0533.8 Total 424,203 539,131663,782
See also Macau people
References
External links Demographic Statistics – Statistics and Census Service